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Lianne C. Leddy

Assistant Professor, Indigenous Studies

Research / Areas of Expertise

Indigenous history in Canada.

Indigenous peoples and the environment.

Gender and Indigenous peoples.

Biography / Academic Background

I am a citizen of the Serpent River First Nation and was born and raised in Elliot Lake, Ontario. I completed my undergraduate degree in History and English at Laurier in 2005 and obtained my MA in History from Western in 2006.

While completing my PhD at Laurier through the Tri-University Graduate Program in History, I taught courses in Indigenous and Canadian history in the Department of Humanities at Mount Royal University in Calgary, and also worked as an academic advisor in the Faculty of Arts. Prior to joining Laurier as a faculty member in 2014, I was an assistant professor in the Department of History at Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Research Interests / Ongoing Projects

My research focuses on Indigenous-settler relations, particularly those framed by gender and environmental issues. I am also interested in Indigenous methodologies and decolonizing research practices.

I am currently working on a monograph entitled, The Serpent River Anishinaabek and Uranium Mining: A Study of Cold War Colonialism, 1953-88, which is under contract with University of Toronto Press. As a co-investigator on a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)-supported interdisciplinary research team, I am also extending this project forward by examining contemporary environmental stewardship and the legacies of uranium extraction on Anishinaabek territory. In another SSHRC-funded project, I examined the gendered experiences of colonialism. Specifically, this project examined the roles of Indigenous women in Anishinaabe communities in postwar Ontario, and their contributions to the politicization of First Nations from 1950s to the 1980s.

This project has also led to an examination of the ethical and gendered considerations when conducting Indigenous feminist oral history. Currently, I am working on another monograph that explores the history of Indigenous women’s experiences with democracy, governance, and colonialism as part of a book series on women’s suffrage in Canada through University of British Columbia Press.

Student Opportunities / Supervising

I am a member of both the Tri-University Program in History (MA and PhD) and the Social Justice and Community Engagement MA Program.

I am interested in supervising graduate students studying Indigenous history, especially topics related to gender and the environment. I have research assistantship opportunities available for students interested in these areas. Please contact me for more information.

Leddy, Lianne C. ““Mostly Just as a Social Gathering”: Anishinaabe Kwewag and the Indian Homemakers’ Club, 1945-1960.” In Aboriginal History: A Reader, edited by Kristin Burnett and Geoff Read, 352-363. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2016.

Leddy, Lianne C. “Poisoning the Serpent: Uranium Exploitation and the Serpent River First Nation, 1953-1988.” In The Natures of Empire and the Empires of Nature, edited by Karl Hele, 125-147. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2013.